The Ecological Role of the Vaquita, Phocoena sinus, in the Ecosystem of the Northern Gulf of California

Riofrío-Lazo, Marjorie; Arreguı́n-Sánchez, Francisco; Rejón, Manuel Jesús Zetina; Escobar-Toledo, Fabián

doi:10.1007/s10021-012-9618-z

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…This is partly because even when this group has the same number of trophic links (related to D i ) to others, it participates with greater intensity in the energy transfer through the food web. This finding contrasts with that reported by Riofrío-Lazo et al (2013) in the Northern Gulf of California, where small pelagic species are less important in transferring energy through the food web. In terms of ecosystem management, these results are important for the Pacific thread herring and the Pacific anchovy because attributes such as keystones species, biomass and the role in maintaining the ecosystem's order can be affected by fishing; thus, a total allowable catch would be desirable as a management strategy in the SGC but not necessarily in other regions of the Gulf.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Untitled

Hernández‐Padilla

Ruiz-Barreiro

Salcedo-Bojórquez

et al. 2017

Turk. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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Opisthonema libertate (Pacific thread herring) and Cetengraulis mysticetus (Pacific anchovy) are the two most important herring stocks exploited in the south-eastern Gulf of California (SGC). The certification of these stocks is currently planned for achieving sustainable fisheries. This study analysed the role of these two species in the structure, organization and functioning of the ecosystem in this region. Twenty-four indicators of the ecosystem's structure and its organization were obtained based on the output of an Ecopath model of the SGC. The relationships of the functional groups with the ecosystem's indicators were identified using multivariate statistical techniques, and the results indicated similar roles for the Pacific thread herring and the Pacific anchovy in the ecosystem of the SGC. Both species make large contributions to the maintenance of the ecosystem's order (i.e., its structure and organization). These results are directly related to one of the criteria that are evaluated by the Marine Stewardship Council's certification process. Defining the remaining biomass level at sea after fishing would guarantee the sustainability of fisheries in the ecosystem.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Untitled

Hernández‐Padilla

Ruiz-Barreiro

Salcedo-Bojórquez

et al. 2017

Turk. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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“…As both a predator and prey species, when in healthy numbers the position of the vaquita in the food web of the local area would be as an important food source for top predators while keeping populations of smaller species such as fish, squid, and crustaceans in check, thus promoting a healthy balance in the region's interdependent food web (Riofrío-Lazo and others, 2013;Rodríguez-Pérez and others, 2021). However, due to unsustainable fishing activities over the few past decades, the population has declined, estimated at a 98 per cent reduction between 2011 and 2018 (Figure 2) (Jaramillo-Legorreta and others, 2019;Rojas-Bracho and others, 2021).…”

Section: Ecosystem Damage and Biodiversity Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical Report: Vanishing vaquita

O’Connor¹,

Roa²,

Eberle³

2022

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The vaquita is a species of porpoise on the brink of extinction with less than 10 individuals estimated to be left in the wild. Although not commercially targeted, the vaquita is collateral damage in an ongoing conflict between fishers, government and international illegal trade. Conservation of this species, therefore, must include provisions for and engagement of all stakeholders involved. This technical background report for the 2021/2022 edition of the Interconnected Disaster Risks report analyses the root causes, drivers, impacts and potential solutions for the vanishing vaquita through a forensic analysis of academic literature, media articles and expert interviews.

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“…The model results demonstrated the relevance of the squat lobster and Fuegian sprat in trophic connections as prey to 60% (squat lobster) and 50% (Fuegian sprat) of the system groups. Several indices have been proposed to determine the potential of an organism to be a keystone species or to play a critical role in a community [15,48], such as the degree (D i ) and centrality (CC i and BC i ) indices used to analyze the functions of different organisms when considering the trophic interactions of the group under study as prey and predator in addition to the size of the food web (e.g., [9,16,49,75,76]). In this study, killer whales and the squat lobster exhibited high values in all these indices; the southern hake had high values in the D i and CC i indices as did the Fuegian sprat in the CC i index.…”

Section: Trophic Role Of Munida Gregaria and Sprattus Fuegensismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the subsequent studies focused on determining the control mechanisms of energy flow by analyzing the importance of resource limitation (bottom-up control) and predation (top-down control) in the structure of the ecosystem [3][4][5]. The study of the role played by the various organisms that make up the food web acquired great interest (e.g., [6][7][8][9]). It has been shown that the organisms that make up the zooplankton have a pelagic-benthic role.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Approaching the Ecological Role of the Squat Lobster (Munida gregaria) and the Fuegian Sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) in the Francisco Coloane Marine Area (Magellan Strait, Chile) Using a Pelagic Food Web Model

Haro

Neira

Hernández‐Padilla

et al. 2022

Animals

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The structure and functioning of the food web of the Francisco Coloane Marine Area in the Magellan Strait, Chile, was quantified, with an emphasis on identifying the ecological role of the squat lobster (Munida gregaria) and the Fuegian sprat (Sprattus fuegensis). Food web indicators, the trophic level, and centrality indices were estimated using Ecopath with Ecosim. Dynamic simulations were carried out to evaluate the ecosystem impacts of biomass changes in squat lobster and Fuegian sprat. The model calculated a total ecosystem biomass of 71.7 t km−2 and a total primary production of 2450.9 t km−2 year−1. Squat lobster and Fuegian sprat were located in specific trophic levels of 2.3 and 2.7, respectively. Squat lobster reduction produced a decrease in the biomass of red cod (42–56%) and humpback whales (25–28%) and Fuegian sprat reduction a decrease in penguins (15–37%) and seabirds (11–34%). The Francisco Coloane Area is an immature ecosystem with productivity and energy flows values within those reported for productive ecosystems; the role of the squat lobster seems to be related to the structure of the food web, and the role of the Fuegian sprat seems to be related to the functioning of the ecosystem and to the energy transfer to top predators.

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The Ecological Role of the Vaquita, Phocoena sinus, in the Ecosystem of the Northern Gulf of California

Cited by 14 publications

References 40 publications

Untitled

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Technical Report: Vanishing vaquita

Approaching the Ecological Role of the Squat Lobster (Munida gregaria) and the Fuegian Sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) in the Francisco Coloane Marine Area (Magellan Strait, Chile) Using a Pelagic Food Web Model

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